Method, wireless communication system, tangible machine-readable medium, and communication apparatus for transmitting bandwidth allocation based on a multi-hop relay standard

ABSTRACT

A method, a wireless communication system, a tangible machine-readable medium, and a communication apparatus for transmitting a bandwidth (BW) allocation based on a multi-hop relay standard are provided. The wireless communication system comprises a BS and at least one RS. The BS transmits the at least one particular channel descriptor to the at least one RS. The least one RS transmits at least one Ack to the BS for replying the at least one particular channel descriptor. Finally, the BS transmits the at least one BW allocation to the at least one RS according to the at least one Ack in a predetermined interval.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application Ser. No.60/892,724 filed on Mar. 2, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method, a wireless communicationsystem, a tangible machine-readable medium, and a communicationapparatus for transmitting a bandwidth (BW) allocation based on amulti-hop relay standard; more specifically, relates to a method, awireless communication system, a tangible machine-readable medium, and acommunication apparatus for transmitting a BW allocation according to achannel descriptor based on a multi-hop relay standard.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

Although IEEE 802.16 standard already provides greater bandwidths, lowerbuilding cost, better service quality and expansibility, there stillexist some defects of coverage and signal quality of IEEE 802.16standard. Therefore, IEEE 802.16j standard working group established amulti-hop relay study group in July 2005 for building a multi-hop relaystandard.

When a relay station (RS) of IEEE 802.16 standard transmits a channeldescriptor, such as a downlink channel descriptor (DCD) or an uplinkchannel descriptor (UCD), a BW allocation configured by a base station(BS) is needed. Accordingly, a solution to configure BW allocations formobile stations (MSs)/subscriber stations (SSs) and relay stations (RSs)based on a multi-hop relay standard, such as IEEE 802.16j standard, isdesired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of this invention is to provide a method for transmittingat least one bandwidth (BW) allocation according to at least oneparticular channel descriptor divided from a channel descriptor based ona multi-hop relay standard. The method comprises the following steps:transmitting the at least one particular channel descriptor from a BS toat least one RS; transmitting at least one acknowledgement character(Ack) from the at least one RS to the BS for replying the at least oneparticular channel descriptor; and transmitting the at least one BWallocation from the BS to the at least one RS according to the at leastone Ack in a predetermined interval.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a wirelesscommunication system for transmitting at least one BW allocationaccording to at least one particular channel descriptor divided from achannel descriptor based on a multi-hop relay standard. The wirelesscommunication system comprises a BS and at least one RS. The BStransmits the at least one particular channel descriptor to the at leastone RS. The least one RS transmits at least one Ack to the BS forreplying the at least one particular channel descriptor. Finally, the BStransmits the at least one BW allocation to the at least one RSaccording to the at least one Ack in a predetermined interval.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a tangiblemachine-readable medium having executable code to cause a machine toperform a method for transmitting at least one BW allocation accordingto at least one particular channel descriptor divided from a channeldescriptor based on a multi-hop relay standard. The method comprises thefollowing steps: transmitting the at least one particular channeldescriptor from a BS to at least one RS; transmitting at least one Ackfrom the at least one RS to the BS for replying the at least oneparticular channel descriptor; and transmitting the at least one BWallocation from the BS to the at least one RS according to the at leastone Ack in a predetermined interval.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a communicationapparatus for transmitting at least one BW allocation based on amulti-hop relay standard. The communication apparatus comprises atransmitting module and a receiving module. The transmitting moduletransmits at least one particular channel descriptor divided from achannel descriptor to at least one RS. The receiving module receives atleast one Ack from the at least one RS for replying the at least oneparticular channel descriptor Finally, the transmitting module transmitsthe at least one BW allocation to the at least one RS according to theat least one Ack in a predetermined interval.

The aforesaid method can be executed by wireless communicationapparatus, such as a BS in the wireless communication system. Bytransmitting the particular channel descriptors to each RSs of thewireless communication system and receiving Acks from each RS which hasreceived one of the particular channel descriptors, this invention cantransmit BW allocations to each RS of the wireless communication systembased on a multi-hop relay standard for channel descriptor transmission.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a BS of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3˜FIG. 5 are diagrams of transmitting common channel descriptor,particular channel descriptors, Acks, and BW allocations of the firstembodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention isa multi-hop relay station system 1 based on a multi-hop relay standard,such as IEEE 802.16j standard. The multi-hop relay station system 1comprises a BS 101, a plurality of RSs 103, 105, 107, 111, 113, and MSs109, 115. For the sake of simplification, three RSs (RS₁ 103, RS₂ 105,RS₃ 107, RS₄ 111, and RS₅ 113) are illustrated. The BS 101 of themulti-hop relay station system 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2, whichcomprises a processor 1011, a divider 1013, a transmitting module 1015,and a receiving module 1017. And some types of the transmitting ofchannel descriptors and BW allocations of the multi-hop relay stationsystem 1 are illustrated in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. The channel descriptorscan be DCDs, UCDs, or combinations of the DCDs and the UCDs. In FIG. 3and FIG. 4, the processor 1011 of the BS 101 finds the same informationof the channel descriptors of the RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, the RS₃ 107, andthe MS₁ 109 first. The channel descriptor of the RS₁ 103 is divided intoa common channel descriptor C₂ and a particular channel descriptor P₂₁of the RS₁ by the divider 1013 of the BS 101 according to the sameinformation. The channel descriptor of the RS₂ 105 is divided into acommon channel descriptor C₂ and a particular channel descriptor P₂₂ ofthe RS₂ 105 by the divider 1013 of the BS 101 according to the sameinformation. The channel descriptor of the RS₃ 107 is divided into acommon channel descriptor C₂ and a particular channel descriptor P₂₃ ofthe RS₃ 107 by the divider 1013 of the BS 101 according to the sameinformation. The channel descriptor of the MS₁ 109 is divided into acommon channel descriptor C₂ and a particular channel descriptor P₂₄ ofthe MS₁ 109 by the divider 1013 of the BS 101 according to the sameinformation.

The common channel descriptors C₂ of the RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, the RS₃107, and the MS₁ 109 are the same, so that the transmitting module 1015of the BS 101 can transmit (i.e. broadcast/multicast) the common channeldescriptor only once to save the radio source. After that, theparticular channel descriptor P₂₁ of the RS₁ 103 will be transmitted tothe RS₁ 103, the particular channel descriptor P₂₂ of the RS₂ 105 willbe transmitted to the RS₂ 105, the particular channel descriptor P₂₃ ofthe RS₃ 107 will be transmitted to the RS₃ 107, and the particularchannel descriptor P₂₄ of the MS₁ 109 will be transmitted to the MS₁ 109by the transmitting module 1015 of the BS 101. And the sequence ofseparately transmitting the particular channel descriptors (P₂₁, P₂₂,P₂₃, and P₂₄) of the RSs and MS is variable. In other words, theparticular channel descriptor P₂₃ of the RS₃ 107 can be transmittedbefore the particular channel descriptor P₂₄ of the MS₁ 109 or theparticular channel descriptor P₂₄ of the MS₁ 109 can be transmittedbefore the particular channel descriptor P₂₁ of the RS₁ 103, etc.

After the RS₁ 103, RS₂ 105, RS₃ 107, and MS₁ 109 receive the particularchannel descriptor P₂₁, P₂₂, P₂₃, P₂₄, respectively, the RS₁ 103transmits an Ack A₂₁ to the BS 101 for replying the particular channeldescriptor P₂₁, the RS₂ 105 transmits an Ack A₂₂ to the BS 101 forreplying the particular channel descriptor P₂₂, the RS₃ 107 transmits anAck A₂₃ to the BS 101 for replying the particular channel descriptorP₂₃, and the MS₁ 109 transmits an Ack A₂₄ to the BS 101 for replying theparticular channel descriptor P₂₄. Similarly, the sequence of separatelytransmitting the Ack (A₂₁, A₂₂, A₂₃, and A₂₄) of the RSs and MS isvariable. In other words, the Ack A₂₃ of the RS₃ 107 can be transmittedbefore the Ack A₂₄ of the MS₁ 109 or the Ack A₂₄ of the MS₁ 109 can betransmitted before the Ack A₂₁ of the RS₁ 103, etc.

When the receiving module 1017 of the BS 101 receives the Acks (A₂₁,A₂₂, A₂₃, and A₂₄) from the RSs 103, 105, 107, and MS₁ 109, theprocessor 1011 of the BS 101 will configure BW allocations of the RSs103, 105, 107, and MS₁ 109. After that, the transmitting module 1015 ofthe BS 101 can transmit a BW allocation BW₂₁ to the RS₁ 103, a BWallocation BW₂₂ to the RS₂ 105, a BW allocation BW₂₃ to the RS₃ 107, anda BW allocation BW₂₄ to the MS₁ 109 in a predetermined interval. Forexample, the transmitting module 1015 of the BS 101 will transmit the BWallocations (BW₂₁, BW₂₂, BW₂₃, and BW₂₄) every 25 ms or other intervals.And the sequence of separately transmitting the BW allocations (BW₂₁,BW₂₂, BW₂₃, and BW₂₄) of the RSs and MS is also variable.

Finally, when receiving the BW allocations BW₂₂ and BW₂₃, respectively,the RSs 105 and 107 can transmit (i.e. broadcast/multicast) channeldescriptors to the RSs 111, 113, and MS₂ 115 according to the BWallocations BW₂₂ and BW₂₃. More specifically, the RS₂ 105 combines thecommon channel descriptor C₂ and the particular channel descriptor P₂₂to generate the channel descriptor of the RS₂ 105, and the RS₂ 105relays the combined channel descriptor to the RS₄ 111 according to theBW allocation BW₂₂. Similarly, the RS₃ 107 combines the common channeldescriptor C₂ and the particular channel descriptor P₂₃ to generate thechannel descriptor of the RS₃ 107, and the RS₃ 107 relays the combinedchannel descriptor to the RS₅ 113 and the MS₂ 115 according to the BWallocation BW₂₃.

In FIG. 5, the processor 1011 of the BS 101 finds the same informationof the channel descriptors of the RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, the RS₃ 107, andthe MS₁ 109 first. If no same information exists among the channeldescriptors of the RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, the RS₃ 107, and the MS₁ 109,the processor 1011 of the BS 101 will find the greatest amount of thesame information among parts of the RSs 103, 105, 107, 109. In thisexample, there exists same information among the channel descriptors ofthe RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, and the RS₃ 107. Consequently, the channeldescriptor of the RS₁ 103 is divided into a common channel descriptor C₄and a particular channel descriptor P₄₁ of the RS₁ 103 by the divider1013 of the BS 101 according to the same information. The channeldescriptor of the RS₂ 105 is divided into a common channel descriptor C₄and a particular channel descriptor P₄₂ of the RS₂ 105 by the divider1013 of the BS 101 according to the same information. The channeldescriptor of the RS₃ 107 is divided into a common channel descriptor C₄and a particular channel descriptor P₄₃ of the RS₃ 107 by the divider1013 of the BS 101 according to the same information. And in thisexample, a channel descriptor CD₄ of the MS₁ 109 is not divided.

The common channel descriptors of the RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, and the RS₃107 are the same, so that the transmitting module 1015 of the BS 101 canbroadcast/multicast the common channel descriptor C₄ only once to savethe radio source. After that, the particular channel descriptor P₄₁ ofthe RS₁ 103 will be transmitted to the RS₁ 103, the particular channeldescriptor P₄₂ of the RS₂ 105 will be transmitted to the RS₂ 105, andthe particular channel descriptor P₄₃ of the RS₃ 107 will be transmittedto the RS₃ 107 by the transmitting module 1015 of the BS 101. And thesequence of separately transmitting the particular channel descriptors(P₄₁, P₄₂, and P₄₃) of the RS₁ 103, the RS₂ 105, and the RS₃ 107,respectively, is variable. Finally, the channel descriptor CD₄ of theMS₁ 109 is transmitted to the MS₁ 109 by the transmitting module 1015 ofthe BS 101 directly.

After the RS₁ 103, RS₂ 105, RS₃ 107, and MS₁ 109 receive the particularchannel descriptor P₄₁, P₄₂, P₄₃, and the channel descriptor CD₄,respectively, the RS₁ 103 transmits an Ack A₄₁ to the BS 101 forreplying the particular channel descriptor P₄₁, the RS₂ 105 transmits anAck A₄₂ to the BS 101 for replying the particular channel descriptorP₄₂, the RS₃ 107 transmits an Ack A₄₃ to the BS 101 for replying theparticular channel descriptor P₄₃, and the MS₁ 109 transmits an Ack A₄₄to the BS 101 for replying the channel descriptor CD₄. Similarly, thesequence of separately transmitting the Ack (A₄₁, A₄₂, A₄₃, and A₄₄) ofthe RSs and MS is variable. In other words, the Ack A₄₃ of the RS₃ 107can be transmitted before the Ack A₄₄ of the MS₁ 109 or the Ack A₄₄ ofthe MS₁ 109 can be transmitted before the Ack A₄₁ of the RS₁ 103, etc.

When the receiving module 1017 of the BS 101 receives the Acks (A₄₁,A₄₂, A₄₃, and A₄₄) from the RSs 103, 105, 107, and MS₁ 109, theprocessor 1011 of the BS 101 will configure BW allocations of the RSs103, 105, 107, and MS₁ 109. After that, the transmitting module 1015 ofthe BS 101 can transmit a BW allocation BW₄₁ to the RS₁ 103, a BWallocation BW₄₂ to the RS₂ 105, a BW allocation BW₄₃ to the RS₃ 107, anda BW allocation BW₄₄ to the MS₁ 109 in a predetermined interval. Forexample, the transmitting module 1015 of the BS 101 will transmit the BWallocations (BW₄₁, BW₄₂, BW₄₃, and BW₄₄) every 25 ms or other intervals.And the sequence of separately transmitting the BW allocations (BW₄₁,BW₄₂, BW₄₃, and BW₄₄) of the RSs and MS is also variable.

Finally, when receiving the BW allocations BW₄₂ and BW₄₃, respectively,the RSs 105 and 107 can transmit (i.e. broadcast/multicast) channeldescriptors to the RSs 111, 113, and MS₂ 115 according to the BWallocations BW₄₂ and BW₄₃. More specifically, the RS₂ 105 combines thecommon channel descriptor C₄ and the particular channel descriptor P₄₂to generate the channel descriptor of the RS₂ 105, and the RS₂ 105relays the combined channel descriptor to the RS₄ 111 according to theBW allocation BW₄₂. Similarly, the RS₃ 107 combines the common channeldescriptor C₄ and the particular channel descriptor P₄₃ to generate thechannel descriptor of the RS₃ 107, and the RS₃ 107 relays the combinedchannel descriptor to the RS₅ 113 and the MS₂ 115 according to the BWallocation BW₄₃.

A second embodiment of this invention is another method for transmittingat least one bandwidth (BW) allocation according to at least oneparticular channel descriptor divided from a channel descriptor based ona multi-hop relay standard, which is a method applied to the multi-hoprelay wireless communication system 1 described in the first embodiment.More specifically, the method of the second embodiment which isillustrated in FIG. 6 can be implemented by an application programcontrolling various modules of a wireless communication apparatus in themulti-hop relay wireless communication system 1. This applicationprogram may be stored in a tangible machine-readable medium, such as aread only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a floppy disk, a hard disk, acompact disk, a mobile disk, a magnetic tape, a database accessible tonetworks, or any other storage media with the same function and wellknown to those skilled in the art.

In step 601, a channel descriptor is divided into a common channeldescriptor and at least one particular channel descriptor by a BS in themulti-hop relay wireless communication system 1, such as the BS 101.Next in step 603, the common channel descriptor isbroadcasted/multicasted from the BS 101 to at least one first RS in themulti-hop relay wireless communication system 1, such as the RS₃ 107. Instep 605, the at least one particular channel descriptor is transmittedfrom the BS to the at least one first RS. In step 607, at least one Ackis transmitted from the at least one first RS to the BS. Then, in step609, at least one BW allocation is transmitted from the BS to the atleast one first RS according to the at least one Ack in a predeterminedinterval. In step 611, the common channel descriptor is combined withthe at least one particular channel descriptor to generate the channeldescriptor. In the step 613, the channel descriptor is relayed from theat least one first RS to at least one second RS according to the atleast one BW allocation in the multi-hop relay wireless communicationsystem 1, such as the RS₅ 113. Finally, in step 615, according to the atleast one BW allocation, the channel descriptor is relayed from the atleast one first RS to an MS, such as the MS₂ 115.

In addition to the steps revealed in FIG. 6, the second embodiment canalso execute all the operations of the first embodiment, in which thoseskilled in the art can understand the corresponding steps and operationsof the second embodiment by referring to the explanation of the firstembodiment, and thus similar description is unnecessary.

Accordingly, by dividing a channel descriptor into a common channeldescriptor and at least one particular channel descriptor, transmitting,such as broadcasting or multicasting, the common channel descriptor to aplurality of RSs, and transmitting the at least one particular channeldescriptor to one of the RSs. And by receiving Acks from each RS whichhas received one of the particular channel descriptors, this inventioncan transmit BW allocations to each RS of the wireless communicationsystem based on a multi-hop relay standard for channel descriptortransmission.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

1. A method for transmitting at least one bandwidth (BW) allocationaccording to at least one particular channel descriptor divided from achannel descriptor based on a multi-hop relay standard, comprising thesteps of: dividing the channel descriptor into a common channeldescriptor and the at least one particular channel descriptor;transmitting the at least one particular channel descriptor from a basestation (BS) to at least one first relay station (RS); transmitting atleast one acknowledgement character (Ack) from the at least one first RSto the BS for replying the at least one particular channel descriptor;and transmitting the at least one BW allocation from the BS to the atleast one first RS according to the at least one Ack in a predeterminedinterval.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising thesteps of: combining the common channel descriptor with the at least oneparticular channel descriptor to generate the channel descriptor; andrelaying the channel descriptor from the at least one first RS to atleast one mobile station (MS) according to the at least one BWallocation.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising thesteps of: combining the common channel descriptor with the at least oneparticular channel descriptor to generate the channel descriptor; andrelaying the channel descriptor from the at least one first RS to atleast one second RS according to the at least one BW allocation.
 4. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:transmitting the at least one particular channel descriptor from the BSto at least one MS; transmitting the at least one Ack from the at leastone MS to the BS for replying the at least one particular channeldescriptor; and transmitting the at least one BW allocation from the BSto the at least one MS according to the at least one Ack in apredetermined interval.
 5. A wireless communication system fortransmitting at least one BW allocation according to at least oneparticular channel descriptor divided from a channel descriptor based ona multi-hop relay standard, comprising: at least one first RS; and a BSfor dividing the channel descriptor into a common channel descriptor andthe at least one particular channel descriptor and transmitting the atleast one particular channel descriptor to the at least one first RS;wherein the at least one first RS transmits at least one Ack to the BSfor replying the at least one particular channel descriptor, and the BStransmits the at least one BW allocation to the at least one first RSaccording to the at least one Ack in a predetermined interval.
 6. Thewireless communication system as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:at least one MS; wherein the least one first RS combines the commonchannel descriptor with the at least one particular channel descriptorto generate the channel descriptor, and relays the channel descriptor tothe at least one MS according to the at least one BW allocation.
 7. Thewireless communication system as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:at least one second RS; wherein the least one first RS combines thecommon channel descriptor with the at least one particular channeldescriptor to generate the channel descriptor, and relays the channeldescriptor to the at least one second RS according to the at least oneBW allocation.
 8. The wireless communication system as claimed in claim5, further comprising: at least one MS; wherein the BS transmits the atleast one particular channel descriptor to the at least one MS, the atleast one MS transmits the at least one Ack to the BS for replying theat least one particular channel descriptor, and the BS transmits the atleast one BW allocation to the at least one MS according to the at leastone Ack in a predetermined interval.
 9. The wireless communicationsystem as claimed in claim 5, wherein the multi-hop relay standard isIEEE 802.16j standard.
 10. A tangible machine-readable medium havingexecutable code to cause a machine to perform a method for transmittingat least one BW allocation according to at least one particular channeldescriptor divided from a channel descriptor based on a multi-hop relaystandard, the method comprising steps of: dividing the channeldescriptor into a common channel descriptor and the at least oneparticular channel descriptor; transmitting the at least one particularchannel descriptor from a BS to at least one first RS; transmitting atleast one Ack from the at least one first RS to the BS for replying theat least one particular channel descriptor; and transmitting the atleast one BW allocation from the BS to the at least one first RSaccording to the at least one Ack in a predetermined interval.
 11. Thetangible machine-readable medium as claimed in claim 10, wherein themethod further comprises the steps of: combining the common channeldescriptor with the at least one particular channel descriptor togenerate the channel descriptor; and relaying the channel descriptorfrom the at least one first RS to at least one MS according to the atleast one BW allocation.
 12. The tangible machine-readable medium asclaimed in claim 10, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:combining the common channel descriptor with the at least one particularchannel descriptor to generate the channel descriptor; and relaying thechannel descriptor from the at least one first RS to at least one secondRS according to the at least one BW allocation.
 13. The tangiblemachine-readable medium as claimed in claim 10, wherein the methodfurther comprises the steps of transmitting the at least one particularchannel descriptor from the BS to at least one MS; transmitting the atleast one Ack from the at least one MS to the BS for replying the atleast one particular channel descriptor; and transmitting the at leastone BW allocation from the BS to the at least one MS according to the atleast one Ack in a predetermined interval.
 14. A communication apparatusfor transmitting at least one BW allocation based on a multi-hop relaystandard, comprising: a divider for dividing the channel descriptor intoa common channel descriptor and at least one particular channeldescriptor; a transmitting module for transmitting the at least oneparticular channel descriptor divided from the channel descriptor to atleast one RS; and a receiving module for receiving at least one Ack fromthe at least one RS for replying the at least one particular channeldescriptor; wherein the transmitting module transmits the at least oneBW allocation to the at least one RS according to the at least one Ackin a predetermined interval.